Lawyer Svetlana Oralbayeva of the North Kazakhstan Regional Bar Association has sent a statement to the editorial office following the conclusion of mediation agreements with Freedom Finance JSC in the context of the KazTAG news agency case. The lawyer acknowledged the complete falsity of her earlier statements and accused the leadership of the KazTAG news agency of deliberately distorting facts to boost the publication's ratings. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
Svetlana Oralbayeva expressed regret over the conflict, which caused significant damage to the business reputation of Freedom Finance JSC and its shareholder Timur Turlov. The lawyer admitted that she showed professional gullibility and, due to time constraints, did not verify the oral information and documents provided to her.
The lawyer retracted her statements made in KazTAG publications.
"Due to severe time constraints and the obligation to present the client's position, I did not thoroughly verify the oral information and documents provided to me, having been completely misled by Zhanna Kaparova, who deliberately distorted facts, imposing claims about supposedly existing 'fraudulent schemes of top management' of the holding and signs of a 'financial pyramid.' As of today, having studied the actual materials, I have concluded that the information I voiced based on her words about the activities of Freedom Finance JSC, FFIN Brokerage Services, and T.R. Turlov is completely false and unreliable," she stated.
Oralbayeva emphasized that during this information campaign, she effectively became a hostage of circumstances. In her opinion, KazTAG editor-in-chief Amir Kasenov intentionally and deliberately used her official procedural status as a shield from criminal and civil liability.
According to the lawyer, the conveyor-belt series of publications was launched deliberately by the editorial board according to a pre-prepared script.
"Agreeing to a conversation with Mr. Kasenov on April 3, 2025, I did not expect that my official status as a lawyer would be used by him as a 'shield' from criminal and civil liability. I believe that editor-in-chief Kasenov A.A. intentionally and deliberately referred specifically to the lawyer in the articles, rather than to the investors present there. It was on Mr. Kasenov's personal initiative and direction that I was brought out as the first speaker. My words were taken out of context, distorted, and supplemented with the editorial board's own provocative conclusions, disregarding basic journalistic principles of information verification, deliberately launching a conveyor-belt series of articles at intervals of 20–30 minutes," Oralbayeva said.
The lawyer also reported that after realizing the negative nature of the published materials, she contacted KazTAG management through Kaparova demanding the immediate removal of videos and articles, but received a categorical refusal. The lawyer concluded that the publication did not try to help civilians but deliberately disseminated disinformation to artificially boost the resource's citation rate, putting her at risk of law enforcement action.
In conclusion, Svetlana Oralbayeva announced a full and official retraction of all previously voiced accusations, placing full responsibility for the organization, direction of the defamation campaign, distortion of meanings, and mass dissemination in the media solely on the leadership of KazTAG and Zhanna Kaparova.
Svetlana Oralbayeva is a lawyer who played a notable role in the initial stage of the information attack against Freedom Finance JSC. In spring 2025, she participated in a press conference organized by KazTAG, where she publicly claimed that the brokerage company allegedly lacked a license, deceived clients, and did not conduct real stock market transactions. The brokerage company denied the allegations. It was because of these statements that on October 2, 2025, the broker filed a lawsuit to protect its business reputation, naming the news agency and Svetlana Oralbayeva as defendants.
At the end of February 2026, the Medeu District Court of Almaty fully granted Freedom Finance's civil claim. A forensic examination ordered during the proceedings confirmed that the materials were targeted and defamatory. As a result, the court recognized the information disseminated by KazTAG as false and untrue, ordering the defendants to remove these publications and issue an official retraction.
On June 15, 2026, the Almaly District Court of Almaty began the trial in the case of KazTAG and Freedom Finance. Initially, the hearing was scheduled for June 11, but the judge had to postpone it due to the absence of Amir Kasenov and Zhanna Kaparova. The defendants include KazTAG General Director Aset Mataev, Editor-in-Chief Amir Kasenov, Malim Media founder Valikhan Ramazanov, and Zhanna Kaparova, who are charged with disseminating knowingly false information, hooliganism, and dishonest performance of duties. The trial continues, with the court hearing the indictments and questioning witnesses to the conflict. The defendants' lawyers are trying to delay the proceedings by regularly filing motions to return the case to the prosecutor and to recuse the judge.